Misunderstandings
by miss.SunFlower
Summary: In Richard Merril's mind, he and Kim are a rather perfect team. That doesn't mean they're above arguments, though. Taking two of my favorite arguments from The Magician's Ward seen from Richard's POV.
1. Chapter 1

**Obligatory warning: I own nothing. Kim and Richard Merril belong to Patricia C. Wrede.**

I enjoy writing arguments. I don't know why. You can tell a lot about a character's feelings and personality through them and it's rather entertaining.

I always like reading Kim and Mairelon arguing about her come-out ball at the start of The Magician's Ward and have always, always wanted to see someone take the scene from his point of view. No one did, so I took it upon myself.

Enjoy!

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><p>Richard Merril was in a particularly good mood.<p>

He wasn't entirely sure where the idea of giving his apprentice and ward a proper come-out had come from, but it was common enough for him to come up with ideas and plans before his mind fully caught up with the reasons behind them that he no longer questioned it. In any case, when he did think about it, it was a very good idea. With it, Kim could be properly respected as the talented wizard-in-training that she was, as she ought to be.

Furthermore, the London Season would be rather a lot more pleasant if Kim was there. She was a breath of fresh air and his partner in crime – in all senses of the term – and with the previous days attempted burglary it felt right that she'd be with him if their thief was potentially found.

And, of course, the whole thing thoroughly upset his aunt. What better reasons did he have?

It was in this cheerful mood that he entered the townhouse library to answer whatever questions it was said ward had for him. He rather suspected it was about the button she'd received from one of the friends from her previous life on the street. A distress call of sorts? Either way, she'd probably want to see the caller as soon as possible and Richard didn't see why there was anything wrong with that. If Kim knew anything, she knew caution and he would go with her, of course. His smiled absently; the whole scene would look something like their adventures of a year ago. In some cases he missed that – 5 years of running made sitting still a bit of a difficulty.

He found Kim slouched casually in a reading chair. She looked up at him, seeming to gather her thoughts from wherever they had run off to.

He grinned at her, "Well, that's settled, more or less. Now, what was it you wanted to ask?"

"Settled?" She asked, sounding a bit startled, "What's settled?"

"The business of presenting you to society," he answered promptly. "Aunt Agatha doesn't like it, of course, but it's clear enough that she'll agree to sponsor you eventually."

"Eventually?" Kim screwed up her face, obviously at the idea of his aunt as her sponsor. Richard was entirely sympathetic, but the amusement of it all won over.

"Right now, she's too furious to agree to anything, but she'll come around as soon as I propose letting Renée D'Auber sponsor you instead. She's far too conventional to let my ward be presented by someone who's not a member of the family."

"You _enjoy_ annoying her," Kim said in surprise.

_Well, yes_. "Nonsense. It's much too easy – everything annoys Aunt Agatha. Now, you had some questions, I think?"

"Not exactly. It's just you forgot to ask me."

Richard blinked. Sometimes it was so easy to get caught up in his own ideas to forget they involved other people who may wish to be included. But, in actuality, he did have a reason for this one. "I'm sorry about springing it on you, but I wanted it to be clear to Aunt Agatha that you hadn't been scheming for a come-out all along. It worked too."

"That's not what I meant," Kim said. "That just explains why you didn't _tell_ me what you were planning. I'm talking about asking me whether I wanted to be launched into society."

He paused briefly, unsure what to make of that. Since they had returned to London from their year or so in Kent where he had begun her magic lessons Kim hadn't seemed herself, and he didn't want her to just suffer in silence. He wanted to do something. "I didn't think I had to. It's obvious you haven't been happy since we got back to London. I thought you wanted a change."

"Well, I haven't been and I did want a change but that's not the point," Kim said with more than a touch of irritation. "A year ago, I wanted to get off the streets, but I didn't want it badly enough to go to the stews."

"I should hope not," Richard said, startled – as he often was – by her bringing up the harsher realities of her old life on the streets of London. Whenever she did, even in passing, it made him profusely glad that she was no longer there. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that she was grateful either, so what was she annoyed about? He tried explaining it to her further. "It's not just a matter of presenting you, you know. I'm hoping if we circulate a bit during the Season we'll run across our toff burglar."

"That's _not the point_," Kim repeated, sounding if anything more annoyed with him. She'd been irritated with him in the past, plenty of times. But in most of those cases he was being admittedly stubborn or, as she would eloquently put it, goose-witted. Not knowing, exactly, what was bothering her made this upset Kim much more concerning to him. "A year ago, you _asked_ me if I wanted to be your ward, when it was a lot plainer I'd jump at the chance. But you didn't _ask_ me about coming out in Society and you didn't _ask_ me about 'circulating during the Season.' You're as bad as Mrs. Lowe."

From anyone else the comparison to his insufferably respectable aunt would be a mildly offensive, but coming from Kim and her feelings towards his aunt being what they were there was nothing mild about it. For Richard to be put beside her in Kim's mind stung him.

"What?"

"Mrs. Lowe didn't ask me about whether I came to London to catch a husband, she just decided that's what I wanted. Or that it would be best for me. And you didn't ask about this. You both act like I'm some fog-headed mort who ain't got sense enough to make up her own mind about anything."

"I'm sorry," he said, unsure of what else he could say after that speech.

"_I'm sorry_ don't fix it."

"What would? Do you want me to tell Aunt Agatha that you refuse to be presented?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I want."

"Why?" He asked, startled. He hadn't expected that answer. Well, he hadn't really expected this entire conversation. "It's not because of that Hardcastle woman's remarks this afternoon, or the Ternower girl's attitude, is it? Their opinions really don't matter in the slightest."

'Why' seemed like the most appropriate question, in any case. He was so used to understanding Kim, and having her understand him. They may not always agree on everything but misunderstandings were rare. In certain cases Richard felt as though he and his ward could understand one another without saying a word. He didn't like the idea that this would not always be the case between them.

"Not to you they don't. But I ain't been out with your poker-backed aunt every day for a week without noticing that the opinions of bubble-brains like those two matter a lot to some people. Your aunt, for one."

"And do they matter to you?" He asked, still trying to grasp at something he could make sense of. "Is that why you're so… overset?"

"_No_," she said with profound exasperation. "Not the way you mean, not now. But if I were to get launched into Society, their opinions would have to matter, wouldn't they? Because that's what society is, mostly."

Well, that was true enough, and at least now he knew what she was saying… for the most part. Richard sighed. "What an unfortunately truthful observation. I take your point. I shouldn't have sprung this on you in front of them."

"You shouldn't have sprung this on me at all!" She snapped. "You ought to have asked me about it first, and not just because you thought I'd give you a trimming if you didn't." She paused to catch her breath. "It's my life. And I ain't – I'm not a noodle."

"No one said you were." He said, somewhat helplessly.

"You act like it." Kim shook her head. "Maybe it's just how you toffs are, deciding what other people should do. But I wasn't born and bred to it. I don't like it. And I ain't never going to get used to it." The lapse in her grammar showing that she meant it.

Richard studied her silently for a moment. It was easy enough to tell his aunt that Kim didn't want a come-out, but he didn't really want to. He wanted Kim to be presented, to feel more comfortable and for Society to treat her the way she deserved to be treated. He hadn't realized that by doing so he would not be treating her as such. He shook his head.

"Very well, if you really don't wish to have a come-out, I'll talk to Aunt Agatha again. Tomorrow, I think; that'll give her time to calm down, and I can probably convince her that her excellent arguments persuaded us to reconsider, which might even put her in charity with both of us."

"Good," Kim said. She still sounded uncomfortable and not at all happy. Well, that was just about how he felt as well. He'd never argued with her before, not like this at least. He hoped he wouldn't do so for a very long time, if ever again.

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><p>I originally wanted to include both arguments in one post (the next one being about Richard accompanying her to Tom's that night) but this got so long I might as well have made it a two shot. So you have that to look forward to.<p>

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed. I do always feel sorry for Mairelon, here. It's very clear he did mean well this whole time. I also love that this argument takes place after he makes some comment to his Aunt about how he and Kim 'deal so well together'.

Also, reviews make me happy. Let me know someone is reading! ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**Obligatory warning: I own nothing. Kim and Richard Merril belong to Patricia C. Wrede.**

This scene is actually one of my favorites to imagine from Mairelon's again.

More or less a continuation of the previous chapter. Enjoy! (And review! 3)

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><p>The awkward, rather tense silence that followed was quickly interrupted, much to Richard's relief. And discussing the robbery – however confusing it was – certainly was a welcome relief, working with Kim as a team again.<p>

"Oh, and that reminds me – Kim, what do you intend to do about that button?" He asked her when it once again occurred to him to ask.

"Button?" She blinked, looking momentarily lost. "You mean, the one Tom Correy sent?"

"Yes, of course. You said it was a sort of summons. Do you want to go?"

Kim blinked again, as if he'd said something ridiculous. "Tom wouldn't ask me to come if it wasn't important. Of course I'm going, if I can figure out how."

Now it was Richard's turn to look at her in mild surprise. How was easy. They'd done much more reckless things in the past than visit someone that had invited them. "We'll take the coach. Aunt Agatha won't need it; when I left she was talking about having a spasm, and that generally occupies her for at least a day. Up High Holborn to Threadneedle, isn't it?"

"That's not what I meant," Kim said, but she was smiling at him in an exasperated manner, like she was amused in spite of herself. "I meant…" She gestured to herself. Richard focused his eyes on her and took in for the first time that she had been rather fashionably turned out for the afternoon's disastrous tea. She looked quite well, he thought, but he understood the problem instantly.

He nodded. "Yes, I see. You can't very well go wandering about the London back streets dressed like that, no matter what time of day it is." Another thought caught up with him. "Particularly if Correy still thinks you're a boy."

"That's it," Kim said, sounding relieved.

"Hunch," he continued to his manservant, who had been silently in the background throughout most of the present exchange, "do you think you can find a suitable set of boy's clothes? Something a bit better than what she had when we met, but not fine enough to attract attention."

"And loose," Kim put in, and sighed. "I hope it works. I wouldn't fool a blind man in broad daylight, but I might still be able to pass for a boy at night."

"Nonsense. You won't have any trouble at all." Richard said, conveniently forgetting that he had believed her to be a boy for less than a minute, when they had first met. Kim looked at him as if he had suddenly sprouted another head and she was part amused and part disconcerted by it all.

However, it was Hunch who spoke up unexpectedly. "She's right, Master Richard. Look at 'er. She ain't skinny enough no more."

He gave Hunch a startled glance, still having not expected him to have said anything on the matter, or to notice anything relating to Kim that he might not know. Then, he obligingly turned to his ward to consider her carefully. It took a moment before he realized that what Hunch meant was not that Kim had put on weight, so to speak. Rather that she had filled in as, well, as a woman. _How had he missed that?_ He thought with some chagrin; the curves were plenty obvious now that he'd had them pointed out. And he'd told her she looked like a boy, more or less.

"I… see. I apologize, Kim." He realized he was looking at her altogether too long and turned himself back to Hunch. "Do as well as you can, Hunch."

"Cook might 'ave somethin' from the last errand boy," Hunch replied. "I'll check."

"Don't forget something equally disreputable for me," Richard called after him as he left to do as he said.

He found Kim staring at him again. "You expect to come with me?"

That was a question? "I _am_ your guardian," he pointed out. Furthermore, he was her partner for this sort of thing.

Oblivious to that thought, Kim's face settled back into its earlier scowl of annoyance. "If that means that I get no say in anything I do, I'd rather go back to the streets," she said heatedly.

Richard stared at her, momentarily stunned beyond words. That was the last, the very last, thing he'd ever expected to hear from Kim, and equally unexpected was how much it hurt. He knew she hadn't been entirely happy back in London, but he didn't think it had been that bad. And they'd had one argument, one misunderstanding regarding a come-out that was no longer occurring. She couldn't really be so angry with him, not to do something like that, not after everything.

"You don't mean that," he said at last, sounding about as confident as he felt.

"Not yet," she allowed, somewhat reluctantly. "But even Mother Tibb _asked_ what we thought of a job before she sent us out."

Again with the problem of _asking_. Was that all that was bothering her? If he had to ask her opinion about anything that concerned her, he saw no reason why not. It was slightly relieving that this was something he could fix. "You said you wanted to go," he pointed out after a moment.

"I do," Kim said. "But I don't think you should come with me."

Richard tensed again, "Why not?"

"I'll have a harder time with Tom if you do. He won't be expecting no toffs, just me. If you show up, even dressed like a dustman, he'll muffle his clapper and I won't find out a thing."

Of course that was a perfectly legitimate argument and was enough for him to understand that she was probably right. Perhaps it was his earlier reminder that Kim was, in fact, a young woman that had him feeling a little more protective of her.

"You can't go to that end of town alone."

"Why not? I _lived_ there alone, for five years after Mother Tibb swung."

"But you haven't been on the streets for a year." Richard argued. "You're out of practice."

"You're more out of practice than I am," Kim retorted. "Especially seeing as you weren't ever _in_ practice. I've got a better chance of not getting caught if I go alone."

Hunch chose that time to enter the library again, carrying a large bundle of clothing. Richard gave him only enough attention to direct him to the table before raiding his eyebrows at his ward. "Not in practice? While you were living on the back streets, I was nosing about in France, if you recall."

Kim sniffed. It seemed her way of knowing someone was right but not being willing to admit to it. "France ain't London."

Hunch choked at that, reminding the pair of them of his presence in the room. Kim took her glare off Richard for a moment to glare at him. "Well, it ain't."

"Isn't, Kim." Richard said, mildly enough. That got the now-exasperated glare turned back to him.

"Ain't," she repeated, with a stubborn firmness. "I got to talk to Tom tonight; if I sound too flash he ain't going to be comfortable."

Again, a reasonable enough point. She was good at that. "Very well. Just don't slip in front of Aunt Agatha, for I won't be responsible for the consequences."

Kim nodded. "I won't. But you still ain't coming with me."

Richard was rather sure Kim was the person closest to himself when it came to stubbornness, and in this case that was not entirely good. He sighed, "Kim–"

She cut him off, "If you try, I won't go. And Tom won't talk to you alone, whatever he's got to say. If he's meant for you to come, he's have let us know somehow."

Her face was set, looking entirely defiant. Richard suppressed another sigh; this was Kim and for all her being dressed up like a docile young lady she was just as strong-willed as she ever was, and she wasn't going to back down.

He nodded at last, however reluctantly. "If you're determined. But I still don't like the idea of you crossing half of London on your own at that hour. Hunch and I will take you up High Holborn in the carriage."

Kim scoffed, "That's going to be inconspicuous for sure. Me, pulling up at Tom's door in a coach at midnight."

"Much as I'd like to do just that, I hadn't planned on it. I _have_ done this sort of thing before, you know. We'll wait at the bottom of Threadneedle Street or somewhere nearby if you can think of a better place."

There was pause, and Richard half expected her to refuse or argue again. But she finally nodded, looking just about as reluctant as he had. He had to admit some disappointment – having briefly hoped to relive their previous adventures. But her points were well made, and in the mood she was in, he was lucky she had agreed to what she had. Biting down another sigh, he instructed her to try on the clothes Hunch and preparing for the night's event.

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><p>And it's my favorite moment. Not the argument really... the Mairelon realizing "Oh my God, Kim's a <em>GIRL<em>." I always get a giggle out of reading that.

Anyways, I had fun with this little ficlet. If you liked it, do let me know! I might consider continuing it with other scenes if you so wish. Thanks ever so much! :D


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